Google Leaves Door Slightly Ajar On Future Pixel-Branded Notebooks

Anyone who desperately wants to get their hands on a Chromebook Pixel better hurry up and buy one from whatever inventory is left out in the wild. There are no more Chromebook Pixels to be found on Google's website, and whether or not there will be new versions sometime in the future is very much up in the air. For the moment, Google has no plans to announce.

The Chromebook Pixel was the first product to bear the Pixel branding when it was introduced several years ago. Fast forward to today and the Pixel brand is now used for Google's newest smartphones (Pixel and Pixel XL). Google has run into some supply issues with its flagship handsets, but for the most part the phones are selling well.

Google indicated to a small gathering of journalists that it might still use the Pixel name on future products that it builds from the ground up, ones that integrate Google's software with its own hardware, but that laptops might not be included. when asked if Google had plans to produce more Pixel laptops, Rick Osterloh, Google's senior vice president for hardware, indicated that Google has "no plans to do one right now." He later clarified that Chromebook Pixel laptops haven't necessarily reached the end of the road, but that "we don't have any plans to discuss at this time."

According to Osterloh, whatever remaining Chromebook Pixel models that are out in the market have already sold out at Google. While it is not clear what the future holds for them, Google is still interested in lower cost laptops and its Chrome OS platform.

"Chrome OS is a huge initiative in the company. Google hasn't backed away from laptops," Osterloh said. "We have the number two market share in the U.S. and U.K, but we have nn plans for Google-branded laptops."

This isn't too surprising. Google built the Chromebook Pixel as a sort of example of what a premium Chromebook could look like. Google never intended to sell a ton of them, mostly because there really is not a big market for a $1,300 laptop that runs Chrome OS.